Another Kohli-ty hundred
Bengaluru: Star India batter Virat Kohli turned his return to Vijay Hazare Trophy after 15 years into a grand spectacle, cracking a hundred that guided Delhi to a four-wicket victory over Andhra in their opening Group D match here on Wednesday.
Kohli (131 off 101 balls) was ably supported by Nitish Rana (77 off 55) and Priyansh Arya (74 off 44) as Delhi chased down a challenging target of 299 in 37.4 overs.
Ricky Bhui too made a century (122 off 105b) to lead Andhra to 298/8, but that remained a bright footnote once Kohli unleashed his genius. Pacer Simarjeet Singh (5/54) too played his part in Delhi’s win with a persistent spell on a rather flat pitch. The 37-year-old was in pristine touch once he essayed a brilliant straight drive off his India teammate Nitish Kumar Reddy in the third ball he faced. The ball rocketed to the fence past a stunned Reddy.
Several other trademark shots flowed as Kohli went past 50 in 39 balls and later 100 in 83 balls with a four off pacer Shiva Narasimha Raju.
It was his 58th List A hundred and also saw him becoming the fastest batter to 16000 runs in 330 innings, well ahead of the now second-placed Sachin Tendulkar (391 innings).
‘Hitman’ carnival
jaipur: Rohit Sharma was doing Rohit Sharma things on a balmy December afternoon.
He played the swivel pull, the effortlessly lofted six down the ground, and swept the pacers from Sikkim for a good measure, as ‘Hitman’ lovers in the Pink City got the best present on Christmas Eve.
On a weekday, around 20,000-plus people from the city decided that the best thing to do was to watch the maestro in action — and that too for free. His 37th List A hundred, a 155 off 93 balls, wasn’t just about the quality. It was also about the entertainment quotient.
It resembled a concert where fans had come to watch their favourite singer belt out one chartbuster after another. It wasn’t about the BCCI diktat, or proving anything to the national selectors, or a head coach who wants to “abolish star culture”. The day was all about a hero and his fans, and by the time they left the stadium, 18 fours and nine sixes from the former India skipper had more than satiated their appetite. On the morning of a working day, if 80 per cent of a stadium is full, you can understand why stars are so intrinsic to Indian cricket.
